I think one more reason for the dip in Mumbai's representation in the Indian team is due to Mumbai's reduced clout in BCCI. BCCI has spread out more, democratised more. Don't get me wrong, clout is still there, but a rotation policy is followed.

And yet, Mumbai wins Bamble.. Despite all these reasons, Mumbai continues to win.. So the only inference is, but for a couple of bright spots here and there, the rest of the country is worse placed than Mumbai.

i tend to agree with Som, that mumbai's representation has reduced with reduction in clout in BCCI!

this is not to say that the players were incapable to make it to the team on merit, but that when a selector is from a particular region, he has more players from his region in his mind than other regions, and that is only human!

C'mon Homer, you cant defend Ajit Agarkar. Even Zaheer Khan hit 4 sixes in an over in ODI's but never is he projected as an allrounder. Fastest 50, and then the most useless wickets- mostly batsman going after him in slog overs unable to contain their excitement at his shitty bowling.One century in Lord's but never was there otherwise as a batsman when the team required him. Face it, he could never cut it as an allrounder so no point bringing in his one century. That is justa footnote. He was never good as a bowler, batsman or all rounder to make it to India. But Mumbai influence ? I dont know? Rahul, Sachin Saurav all favoured him. Just cant fathom why?

Clout is Noel David playing for India. Or David Johnson.Dodda Ganesh anyone? How about Chetan Sharma?And that is just a fraction of the bowlers.

Heck, even Kapil Dev prolonged his retirement for so long that it blocked the emergence of Srinath.. But Kapil is the consummate team man and not a Mumbaikar, so all's well.

We can debate marginal selections till the cows come home but if the notion is that Mumbaikars have it easy, those harbouring those notions need to spend aome quality time on Mumbai's maidans ( and local trains and buses).

Homer, definitely not. It would be wrong and silly generalisation to say Mumbai's entire representation was due to its previous clout. But yes, since Mumbai called the shots for a long time, it was possible to bung in some players who otherwise would not have seen the light of the day. And don't get me wrong, when the power centres shifted to other regions, they did exactly the same. THat sort of cancels out the allegation I guess:)